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Comment by cpncrunch | Hacker News Reader

But is a free press that has no checks and balances actually useful to democracy? I was going to make a complaint yesterday about a Fox News article that had some serious factual errors, but I see there is no agency in the USA to make such a complaint to. So basically you have all sorts of fake news being peddled and there's absolutely nothing that can be done about it.

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> there is no agency in the USA to make such a complaint to

If you have a government agency policing what the press can and cannot say, you don't have a free press.

Your point is well taken, but I think what the previous poster was suggesting is some kind of ombudsman. I don't know that the idea is without merit, though as you point out it could be difficult to do in a way that preserved the freedom and independence of media.

Yes, the press complaints commission seemed to work well in the UK, and didn't infringe any freedom of the media. We're not talking about deciding what can and can't be said, just dealing with patently false statements.

I think where US struggles is general education of population and engagement with political process.

Press is subjective and you need engaged critically thinking electorate to see when BS is being presented to them.

Basically fake news is on us, not on them.

Each press organization has their reputation and readers/viewers/listeners that should act as a lever. Its up to individual citizens to be critical readers.

As we have seen, that doesn't work very well.

  a Fox News article that had some serious factual errors

How about posting a link for broader critique?

https://www.foxnews.com/world/omar-khadr-canada-pays-ex-gitm...

The statement is "killed US soldier" (not proven, and evidence seems to suggest the contrary).

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